Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Harper's South Korea Trip
I am not against free trade per se, it has its benefits in expanding markets and bringing our world together. When people are trading with each other and making money, they are much less likely to wage war on each other. However, we should not uncritically accept free trade deals. We must be cognizant of national sovereignty and jobs.
Harper is travelling to South Korea to seal a free trade deal with them, it would be Canada's first free trade deal with an Asia-Pacific country. There are some potential benefits to this deal - in particular for Canada's agricultural exports - however there are serious concerns about the impact on our auto-sector, in particular the flooding of Canadian markets with cheap South Korean imports. This could endanger jobs in the automobile manufacturing sector in our country.
Can Harper be critical minded and act in Canada's best interests? I think there is reason to be skeptical. Recommend this post
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Were this deal to have negative impact on Alberta, LD, I am convinced it would never have been signed. Because Ontario stands to lose the most, Harper is quite happy to sign.
ReplyDeleteAs well, my understanding is that unlike the United States, Canada did not request nor secure the option of reviewing and possibly cancelling the deal in the future, should its overall impact prove negative.
Lorne, I agree with your observations. He has sold out Ontario. It is sad.
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